The A’s have shut down righty starting pitchers Brett Tomko and Vin Mazzaro for the remainder of the season. The 36-year old Tomko has some nerve damage in his pitching arm. That’s a shame as he has looked sharp for the A’s this season. He started 6 games for the A’s and he was 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP. The A’s might re-sign Tomko if the price is right. 22-year old Vin Mazzaro has been shut down with a tired shoulder. Mazzaro started 17 games for the A’s this season and he was 4-9 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. The rookie allowed 120 hits (12 homers) in only 91 1/3 innings for the A’s so he must learn soon on how to start missing some bats.

The A’s have lost rookie lefty starting pitcher Josh Outman for the next 12-18 months due to Tommy John Surgery. Outman was the #12 prospect in the A’s minor league system coming into this season according to Baseball America. Outman pitched in 14 games (12 starts) for the A’s this season and he is 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. It’s a shame that Outman hurt himself as he was really pitching well this season.

The Oakland A’s have lost righty reliever/starter Dan Giese for the season due to Tommy John Surgery.  Giese pitched in 7 games (1 start) for the A’s this season and he was 0-3 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.  This hurts both the A’s and Giese as they were made for each other.  The A’s needed a swingman on the pitching staff due to the young starting rotation they are using and Giese might have been the right guy for the job.

Eric Chavez has been placed on the D.L with a herniated disc. He believes that this could be a career ending injury and it would be sad to see him go out like that. Chavez has played in only 8 games this season for the A’s and he was 3 for 30 (.100 avg, .262 OPS) with 1 RBI. Chavez has played in parts of 12 seasons with the A’s covering 1,287 games in which he is 1,250 for 4,672 (.268 avg, .827 OPS) with 720 runs scored, 229 homers, 777 RBIs and 47 stolen bases.

UPDATE: Eric Chavez will miss the rest of the season due to back surgery.

The Oakland A’s have placed righty reliever Santiago Casilla on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right knee. He has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the A’s this season and he is 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. Casilla has been really tough on hitters this season allowing only 3 hits in 11 1/3 innings for the A’s this season. The A’s will miss Casilla but they have enough depth in the bullpen to tread water until he’s ready to return to action.